Which of these Swiss towns to spend most time in?

I've never been to Europe so I will be relying on forums and advice for this trip I'm planning, thanks in advance! It's a 16 day trip and we visit 7 places to do a lap around all of Switzerland. Then I have 9 days to add on for "rest days" to just explore the area and do day trips to mountains, lakes, castles, winery's, chocolate / cheese factories, etc.

Which of these places should we spend the most extra time in? We'll have the unlimited Swiss Rail pass

- Zurich

- Lucerne

- Chur

- St Moritz

- Zermatt

- Montreux

- Interlaken

Hi VolatilityTS,

That's a good question but also quite hard to answer :-) It's really a matter of personal interests and priorities. I recommend to read our information on each town to help making a descision:

• www.myswissalps.com/zurich
• www.myswissalps.com/lucerne
• www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz
• www.myswissalps.com/zermatt
• www.myswissalps.com/montreux
• www.myswissalps.com/interlaken
• www.myswissalps.com/graubunden (Chur is a good base for train trips to most of the Graubunden area, the train ride to Arosa is something not to miss when you spend a few days there)

Basically you can't go wrong spending extra time in either of these towns. Personally I would not pick Zurich because I prefer nature over cities. But if you like good dining, shopping and museums, then it would be a great choice for you.

Since Montreux is the only French speaking town on your list, that might be a reason to spend more time there. It will be a different atmosphere and add to the variety of your trip.

Does this get you started?

Hello VolatilityTS,

My choices would be Zermatt, Lucerne, Montreux and Interlaken.

You might also check into Lauterbrunnen Valley area, it is very near Interlaken and to me is a much better choice over Interlaken.

I agree with Arno, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices.

Enjoy!

Steve

Agree with Steve. Go to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. There is easily a week (or much more) of things to do in the area (beautiful hikes, villages, mountain tops, etc.) that will keep you busy and in my opinion, is the most beautiful area of Switzerland (actually the world).

Hi VolatilityTS,

I would spend the extra time in Lucerne (plan day trips to the Ticino region) and Montreux. Interlaken would also be great.

Regards,

Anna

Thank you so much everyone for the great feedback, it's very helpful!

Looking at those links and resources, I think Lucerne and Montreux will get a couple extra days each, there seems to be a lot of great day trips there. Thanks